When Congress passed the 1996 Telecommunications Act, legislators anticipated that the reduced regulatory barriers would lead to increased competition among U.S. telecommunications providers, and, in turn, the new competition would drive innovation and reap economic benefits for both American consumers and telecommunications providers. But the legislation had a markedly different impact. While many of the more aggressive providers enjoyed sharp short-term rises in stock market values, they soon faced sudden collapse, leaving consumers with little or no long-term benefit.
In Competition and Chaos, Robert W. Crandall analyzes the impact of the 1996 act on economic welfare in the United States. He also examines how the act and its antecedents have affected the major telecommunications providers, some of whom are now a threatened species, caught in a downward spiral of declining prices and substantial losses. In the wake of the 2001-02 telecom stock market collapse, the industry is preparing for an intense battle for market share among three sets of surviving carriers: the wireless companies, the local (largely Bell) telephone companies, and the major cable television operators. None is assured a clear path to dominance in the drive to attract customers to an expanding array of voice, data and audio services. Although the telecom stock market collapse is now history and the survivors are investing once again, Crandall concludes that regulators failed to adapt to the chaos to which they contributed until the courts forced them to do so.
You can read this ebook online in a web browser, without downloading anything or installing software.
This ebook is available in file types:
This ebook is available in:
After you've bought this ebook, you can choose to download either the PDF version or the ePub, or both.
The publisher has supplied this book in DRM Free form with digital watermarking.
You can read this eBook on any device that supports DRM-free EPUB or DRM-free PDF format.
The publisher has supplied this book in encrypted form, which means that you need to install free software in order to unlock and read it.
To read this ebook on a mobile device (phone or tablet) you'll need to install one of these free apps:
To download and read this eBook on a PC or Mac:
The publisher has set limits on how much of this ebook you may print or copy. See details.